April 8, 2020 – Observations and Thoughts…

You can take the girl out of consulting, but you can’t take consulting out of the girl.

My husband laughed at reading my blogpost yesterday. He said it sounded so much like a consultant, with all the charts and graphs. I didn’t realize it at the time but after rereading it, I have to admit he’s right.

I love me my charts, graphs, spreadsheets and lists. Even when writing about my personal experience and how to adjust to life in the time of COVID-19, I use graphs, charts, and lists to organize my thoughts and share some advice. These tools have been so deeply ingrained in me that they now course through my veins. Are there any consultants you know who are not obsessed with these things?

I am drawn to buzz words. There’s a reason Dilbert comics are still going strong. They are grounded in reality and many of its comics poke fun at consultants, like the one below. Whatever the hot topic or acronym or term of the day (think “pivot” from my post a few days ago), you can be sure that consultants are adopting it. There’s a reason the term consultant-speak exists.

Dilbert Comic, February 8, 1993 //www.dilbert.com/strip/1993-02-08?utm_source

I love tech, cool gadgets, and office supplies. It’s a dirty little secret that consultants are always on the hunt for the best pens, notebooks, calendars and to do lists (whether it’s a paper planner, hot new app, or hybrid…which is my method).

My latest obsession is the Rocketbook Fusion notebook. It is the perfect melding of the flexibility of handwritten notes, charts, to do lists, calendars, etc, with the accessibility and readability of a cool app. If you’ve never heard of it, you must check out this quirky promo video from its creators: https://youtu.be/0SiR_7u9Rps

Believe me when I say I have tried and abandoned dozens of notebooks, planners, apps, and software in search of nirvana: the perfect, customizable system that manages and stores my planning, notes, art, and writing. Until 12 months ago, I would’ve said no such thing exists. And then my husband introduced me to The Rocketbook. Cue sounds of angelic voices singing.

The Rocketbook is infinitely reusable and customizable. Notebook pages are easily scanned and then sent to folders in various cloud apps for storage and accessibility. The best part is that the scans use OCR (Handwriting Recognition), so the handwriting on your notebook pages is searchable in whatever app you send your notes to.

The notebooks are a bit pricey, about the price of a decent planner. However, I have used the same notebook for over a year and have not abandoned it nor have I needed any other notebook or planning tool. I love that I can create my own permanent or temporary templates. When I run out of pages, I simply scan the completed pages, erase them, and start over. My scanned notes are easily searchable and accessible as well. I’ve not found a better product that so completely meets my needs.

I can not help but give advice. As I’m writing this post that pokes fun at my inner-consultant, I am chuckling. Even in a fun post, I cannot keep myself for giving advice or offering how tos. It’s present in everything I do. I’m a hopeless case.

#alonetogether #consultanthumor #thisiscoronalife